Study: US College Students Advance Little Intellectually

Study: US College Students Advance Little Intellectually

This is the time of year when millions of American high-school seniors and their parents scramble to complete the process of finding, and getting accepted by, a college to begin the higher education process in September.

But there’s some doubt about how high that level of learning will be.

The title of a new book tells the story. Based on a recent study by sociologists Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roska of the University of Virginia, the title is: “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.”

The professors interviewed 2,300 U.S. college undergraduates and reviewed their academic records.

They concluded that after two years in college, 45 percent of the students showed no significant improvement in key intellectual and creative skills such as critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing.